TWO BIRDS
BY NATASHA TRIPATHI

Today I saw two birds in the sky and thought it was us.

Do you remember when you taught me that song?

I was five
and when we sang, I put my hand on it and prayed.

Like a river, mann ki shakti.
Its momentum, mann ki shakti.

But not really. Not the blue of it.

You said mann means mind,
And ma it echoed. So I put my hand on it and prayed.

Time suspended and we were clear—
I mean,
you were vast.

We rippled and dangled by threads
and I didn’t know

The space between us had always been there, woven together
frame by frame.

Recently I thought I had found the blue of it.

It echoed.

Can I open the surface of sound?

It stopped.

As its pulse reemerges, I feel an imprint in waves.
I follow it home on my mother tongue.

Natasha Tripathi is a painter and self-taught poet whose journey was shaped by the depth of her lineage and her observation of emotions. After earning a degree in Art and Journalism from Rutgers, Natasha worked with renowned institutions like Sotheby’s and The New Yorker, all while continuing to paint and write poetry. Despite "having it all", she was still drawn to art, prompting her to pursue an M.F.A. at the New York Studio School. In January 2024, Natasha moved from New York City to Seattle to support her partner’s career, unsure about leaving the city’s vibrant art scene. However, she’s found a welcoming creative community and is excited to further immerse herself in her work.

In her work, Natasha seeks to deconstruct and rebuild her origin story by investigating the self. At the core of her work is the archetype of feminine energy, and its manifestation through time, space, and nature. This fascination with the forces of creation and destruction began in her childhood, growing up in a Hindu household, and evolved as she discovered that this energy transcends humanity, existing in everything.